Refugees and Border Security Post-September 11
Howard Adelman
Abstract ment une porte d’entrée de quelque importance permet- In the aftermath of the terror attack on the United States tant aux terroristes d’entrer au Canada ou aux États- on 11 September 2001, widespread concerns were raised Unis. about security concerns related to access to Canada and the United States of refugee claimants. Many new changes were introduced after that event to improve the control Security and Refugees mechanisms to reduce the threat of terrorism. In the over- here are many areas in which immigration and, more lap between refugee and security concerns, particularly particularly, refugee issues overlap with security con- with respect to the genuine fear of terrorism, this paper Tcerns, especially since the Canadian system of selec- will examine the controls in place and introduced after 11 tion and control presumes that the desirable can be distinguished from the undesirable. This overlap with secu- September 2001 to restrict the entry and retention of ter- rity is particularly important in the case of refugees for, rorists in association with the refugee determination proc- unlike immigrants, Convention refugees are self-selected ess. This paper will attempt to assess whether the refugee and are generally permitted to become members of Canada determination process provides any significant opening for if they can prove that they are entitled to refugee status terrorists to enter Canada or the United States. according to the provisions of the International Refugee Convention. However, even if adjudication has replaced a Résumé system of selection, there are some controls in place to assess Dans la période qui a suivi les attentats terroristes du 11 any security risk related to potential refugee claimants, refugee septembre 2001 aux États-Unis, beaucoup d’inquiétudes claimants, and persons given refugee status under the Conven- ont été exprimées autour de la question de sécurité liée à tion. Those who pose security risks are inadmissible.1 l’entrée au Canada et aux États-Unis de demandeurs These controls include: imposition of visa requirements d’asile. De nombreux changements ont été introduits à la on travelers from specific countries coming to Canada; 2 suite de ces évènements pour améliorer les mécanismes de pre-screening abroad to interdict undocumented arrivals in partnership with transport companies,3 even if genuine contrôle et réduire les risques de terrorisme. Dans le refugees are prevented from arriving in Canada to make a chevauchement entre réfugiés et problèmes de sécurité, claim; limiting the number of refugee arrivals by imple- particulièrement en ce qu’il s’agit de craintes fondées du menting a “safe third country” mechanism,4 a provision terrorisme, cet article se propose d’examiner les mesures already in Canadian legislation that eliminates the refugee de contrôle qui ont été instaurées après le 11 septembre, claims of persons who transited through a country – spe- de pair avec le processus de reconnaissance du statut de cifically the United States – where they could have made a réfugié, afin de contrôler l’entrée de terroristes et leur refugee claim; the use of Advanced Passenger Information détention. L’article essayera de déterminer si le processus (API) lists with full reservation details to facilitate interdic- de reconnaissance du statut de réfugié représente réelle- tion at airport ports of entry by disembarkation teams to detect and prevent entry of improperly documented, un-
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documented, and unwanted arrivals; screening at ports of bomb the Los Angeles airport, plotted bank robberies and entry to attempt to identify security risks5 in partnership organized the fraudulent use of credit cards. This paper will with other countries6 with which Canada shares informa- nevertheless focus on terrorism alone and by and large tion,7 detention8 of suspect refugee claimants, subject to avoid other issues of control. review,9 without resorting to the current Australian system Whatever the inherent limitations in any control system, of detaining all claimants;10 pre-screening of refugee claim- in the aftermath of September 11, widespread charges were ants by the Canadian Security and Intelligence Service made17 both in the United States18 and in Canada19 that the (CSIS) to ensure that they are not security risks;11 and, Canadian control system was porous and inefficient. In a finally, removal12 of those refused refugee status or those poll conducted by Léger Marketing in the aftermath of granted refugee status13 if they are deemed to be a security September 11, 80 per cent of Canadians demanded stricter risk. These efforts are enhanced by new high-tech systems controls over immigration. to detect security risks, such as the Automated Fingerprint However, in Chapter 2 of a report entitled Hands across Identification System (AFIS) of Citizenship and Immigra- the Border (henceforth Hands),20 the Standing Committee tion Canada (CIC). To ease the burden on and workload of on Citizenship and Immigration, reporting on the effects Immigration Control Officers (ICO), safe travellers can of September 11 on border and immigration issues to the now be expedited through immigration control where the House of Commons, concluded: “Evidence to date indi- systems are in place by using the CANPASS, INSPASS, and cates that the attacks of September 11th were largely orches- the new Expedited Passenger Processing System (EPPS), all trated and carried out by a group of people who entered the of which were designed to identify pre-approved low-risk United States legally,” and had nothing to do with individu- travelers expeditiously. als attempting to enter Canada to win status as refugees.21 One foundation of this control system is documentation However, the Canadian Alliance qualified its overall en- – passports, visas. and refugee (and immigrant) identity dorsement of the report as follows: “Capacity creates its documents. Quite aside from the controls on refugees, one own demand, for where there is a weakness it will be of the major breaches in the control apparatus involves the exploited. The ‘refugee system’ continues to be exploited by fraudulent use of passports. These include Canadian pass- non-refugees and is a grave security concern.” And on ports: there were 2,200 reported misuses of Canadian pass- December 7, 2001, the Toronto Star headlined its coverage ports through fraudulent alteration, theft, borrowing, and of Hands: “MPs Urge Crackdown on Refugees.” Is the obtaining legitimate passports illegally14 between 1988 and refugee control system porous and a security threat to 2000, according to a 27 September 2001 report of CIC. In Canadians, or is this all hyperbolic rhetoric with little rela- addition, corruption is used to buy visas.15 Some also argue tionship to reality, and, even worse, an excuse and cover to that the absence of a system of identity cards for immigrants introduce stricter controls on the entry of genuine refugees and refugees, prevalent in continental Europe, has also been to Canada? The latter is the attitude of most individuals in a problem (though such a system is now to be introduced the refugee support community. Thus, while unequivocally into Canada). condemning the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Tow- In the application of these enforcement mechanisms, ers on 11 September 2001 and recognizing the need to take there are always constraints – financial, bureaucratic, legal – defensive measures against future attacks, refugee and im- as well as continuing debates between the degree of discre- migration support groups tend to view the terrorism scare tion permitted and the desire to have all control rules after September 11 as having been used as an excuse to spelled out clearly and unequivocally. While control sys- restrict and limit refugee entry into Canada even further tems apply to undesirables of many kinds – criminals, and with very little justification. trafficked persons, war and other serious criminals, human Are refugees a significant security issue or not? rights violators – this article is limited to the examination of control mechanisms in place or recently introduced to Actual Security Threats and Refugees restrict the entry and retention of terrorists in association As everyone knows, the September 11 attack on the World with the refugee determination process, though in some Trade Towers was not the first terrorist attack targeting situations there are linkages between the control of terror- North American people and property. One very early terror- ism and other control issues. For example, in the case of the ist attack aimed at civilians was the 1985 bombing of an Air Tamil Tigers, there have been allegations of linkages be- India flight with 325 people, mostly Indo-Canadians, tween organized crime, money laundering, immigrant aboard. Another airline attack on an India-bound plane was smuggling operations and terrorism.16 In another example, just barely averted. Several Canadian Sikhs were recently Ahmed Ressam, the terrorist convicted of planning to indicted for the Air India disaster.
Refugees and Border Security Post-September 11
Other groups involved in terrorism have been supporters the Algerian Samir Ait Mohamed, entered Canada in Oc- of the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka. Many Sri Lankan Tamils tober of 1997 with a false Belgian passport and a fake name. arrived in Canada and were accepted as genuine refugees. He too claimed refugee status, and had a hearing in August CSIS several years ago identified the Liberation Tigers of 1998 in Montreal but his claim was also rejected. Though Tamil Eelam (LTTE) as a terrorist organization guilty of having no employment and living off welfare, he paid rent assassinations, suicide bombings, ethnic cleansing, torture of $1400 per month. He was picked up in Vancouver in July and rape. Further, the Security Intelligence Review Com- 2000 on an immigration warrant as a result of information mittee (SIRC) in its 1999-2001 Report (Ottawa 2000) rec- that came out of the trial of Ahmed Ressam. The United ommended legislation to criminalize fundraising efforts for States was not the only target the two had in mind. They terrorist and terrorist front organizations prevalent in Can- planned to place an explosive device in a gasoline truck at ada. This was picked up in the National Post on 8 September the busy Laurier/Park intersection in Outrement, Mont- 2001, just prior to September 11, in an article entitled real, a classy francophone area, because Ressam saw ultra- “Defunding Terrorism.” In October 2001, regulations were orthodox Jews there due to the proximity of a large Hasidic introduced, pending legislation, to block money transfers community. They also planned to set off a bomb on a busy of terrorist organizations. On 7 November 2001, the Cana- commercial block of Ste. Catherine Street in Montreal.26 dian government formally declared LTTE to be a terrorist However, the major targets have been in the United States. organization.22 Further, CSIS purportedly named the Tamil Other than our own safety, as well as our concern for Eelam Society as a front for the LTTE. At the beginning of American lives and our many shared values, we have other December 2001, CIC denied further funding to the Tamil motives than terrorism itself for focusing on immigration Eelam Society of Canada, which provides services to Sri and refugee issues as a security concern. Lankan refugees and migrants on the grounds that the society “was not meeting our requirements,” according to Economics as a Motive the CIC spokesperson, Simon MacAndrew. He did not Canada and the United States boasted the longest unde- specify what those requirements were. fended border in the world. The U.S. admits about 530 Note that these organizations are not so much involved million people across its border each year, almost 200 mil- in global terrorism as in support of homeland insurgency lion from Canada; eighty million of these cross into the movements (which may include the use of terrorism as a United States on land. Prior to September 11, there were strategy), for which they provide monies, lobbying, public only three hundred American agents patrolling the US/Ca- relations, sources of recruitment, and safe havens. How- nadian border and only seven hundred customs inspectors. ever, in addition to the LTTE and various militant Sikh As a result of the North American Free Trade Agreement groups from India,23 Canada has been used as a conduit for (NAFTA), trade between the two countries grew from global terrorism as well. Terrorist organizations active in $116.3 billion in 1985 to $409.8 billion in 2000. That trade Canada include the al Qaeda network and the Algerian represented 85 per cent of Canadian exports in 2000, up Armed Islamic Group (GIA)24 as well as Hamas and from 60 per cent thirty-five years earlier. At the same time, Hezbollah, which share some common goals with al to become more efficient, industry had instituted just-on- Qaeda.25 In the 1993 World Trade Towers attack in which time delivery so that auto assembly plants on both sides of six people were killed, the chief organizer, Ramzi Yousef, the border would have only from six hours to two days of used forged Canadian immigration papers to gain access to supplies on hand. About 3.75 million trucks per annum the United States. He went on to plan to sabotage twelve cross the four bridges from Ontario to the U.S., about one U.S. planes in the Philippines, but that terrorist attack was half via the Ambassador Bridge, which carries five thousand foiled. trucks per day. Before September 11, Canadians and Ameri- However, the closest connection to Canada, refugees, cans had been moving to integrate their economies even and security was another foiled terrorist operation, the more. planned bombing of the Los Angeles airport. Thanks to Other than the outpouring of sympathy for Americans alert U.S. Customs officials who discovered explosives in post-September 11, effects were most acutely felt at the long the trunk of Ahmed Ressam’s car on 14 December 1999 delays at border points for both people and goods. Consider when he tried to cross into Washington State on a ferry that each automobile assembly line produces $1 million from Victoria, British Columbia, Ressam was captured. worth of cars per hour. When backups at the U.S. border Ressam had entered Canada as a refugee claimant from create delays of days, the economic impact is enormous.27 Algeria, but had been unsuccessful in his refugee claim. He Thus, efforts were expended in three very different direc- returned to Canada on a false passport. His alleged partner, tions. First, the smart-border declaration signed by Can-
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ada’s Foreign Minister John Manley and Paul Ridge, the to arrest and detain foreign nationals within Canada who U.S. Director of Homeland Security, included provisions cannot satisfactorily identify themselves in the course of an for the long-standing efforts of Canada to create joint cus- immigration proceeding, thus enabling CIC to enforce se- toms pre-clearance for commercial cargoes and jointly op- curity concerns whether they arise at the border or within erated customs facilities at remote border points; Canada Canada. However, CIC does not have to certify that some- Customs and Revenue Agency (CCRA) has introduced a one detained was an individual who might facilitate acts of self-assessment program (CSA) to facilitate the movement terrorism. Other provisions require airlines to provide in- of low-risk commercial traffic as well as a joint commercial formation on passengers before arrival. The Act provides driver registration system. Second, efforts are being made stiff increases in penalties for those who engage in human to speed up introduction of the CANPASS system (an trafficking and smuggling; those convicted would face fines automatic pass to allow electronic identification for secure of up to $1 million and/or prison sentences for life. Finally, Canadian travellers to return into Canada without being the provision for the new independent appeal to those checked by an ICO) and its successor, the Expedited Pas- refused refugee status – that had been provided for when senger Processing System (EPPS), the technological means Elinor Caplan, the then Minister of Citizenship and Immi- that allow immigration and customs officers at airports to gration, introduced the new Immigration Act – was sus- identify pre-approved low risk travelers to create what the pended by her successor, Denis Coderre. Canadian Minister of National Revenue in 1996, David There have been a number of initiatives to harmonize Anderson, dubbed “a hassle-free border for honest travel- Canadian and American practices, though none can be said ers and businesses.” Third, in addition to making the free to go so far as harmonizing immigration policies according flow of goods and services as well as secure travelers across to George Bush’s directive on 29 October 2001 when he the border easier, reinforced security measures were ordered his officials to begin harmonizing customs and stepped up along the border dividing Canada and the immigration policies with those of Canada as well as Mex- United States. American agent numbers along the border ico to ensure “maximum possible compatibility of immi- were tripled in the immediate aftermath of September 11, gration, customs and visa policies.”30 In addition to visa initially from three hundred to nine hundred and then with screening abroad and pre-clearance of flights abroad, two the addition of another six thousand Patrol Officers.28 key areas of co-operation between Canada and the United States are in the process of being introduced with respect to Changes in Canadian Controls refugees – the creation of a common list of countries ex- to Enhance Security empt from visa requirements and the introduction of a safe A number of changes on the Canadian side have been made third-country accord. to enhance security with respect to dealing with refugees that A day after Canada and the U.S. signed a joint border and assume refugees create security problems. Even before Sep- immigration accord in December of 2001, Canada imposed tember 11, in March 2000 the House of Commons Report, visa requirements on the following eight countries: Domin- Refugee Protection and Border Security: Striking a Balance, ica, Grenada, Kiribati, Nauru, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu (six tabled in the House of Commons, connected the security small island states), as well as Zimbabwe and Hungary. The and refugee issues. Further, the Immigration and Refugee island states are used to buy passports or, in the case of Protection Act (IRPA),29 includes clauses connecting refugee Nauru, serve as a holding centre for Australian refugee and security issues. For example, clauses condensing the claimants. Hungary was included because, although a small security certificate protection procedure were drafted before percentage of Roma have been accepted as refugees, Roma September 11 (though the Bill received Royal Assent on 1 from Hungary continually arrive in Canada to become November 2001 to come into force on June 28, 2002). refugee claimants. However, the inclusion of Zimbabwe The Public Safety Act passed after September 11 includes supports the fears of the refugee support community since provisions in Part 9 amendments to the current Immigra- 1,652 Zimbabweans made claims in 2000 and the majority tion Act for stopping a refugee proceeding if a claimant is (70 per cent) of claimants have been successful. In the news discovered to be a member of an inadmissible class or under release of 4 December 2001, the then Minister of Citizen- a removal order. In such cases, refugee determination pro- ship and Immigration, Elinor Caplan, explained that, “The ceedings before the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) decision to impose a visa for Zimbabweans reflects our could be suspended or terminated if there are reasonable concern with improperly documented travellers to Can- grounds to believe that the claimant is a terrorist, senior ada.” The Canadian High Commissioner to Zimbabwe was official of a government engaged in terrorism, or a war quoted in the Zimbabwe Independent that same day as criminal. Another amendment allows immigration officers saying the visa was imposed to ensure “that only those
Refugees and Border Security Post-September 11
people with genuine reasons are allowed entry to Canada.” While the Citizenship and Immigration Minister, Denis But most were genuine refugees! Would the Canadian High Coderre, was reported in the 2 May 2002 Globe and Mail to Commission issue a visa if the applicant in Zimbabwe said have promised that no agreement was possible unless the that his reason was a desire to make a refugee claim? Is it Agreement “guarantees the United States will treat the any surprise that the refugee support community believes asylum seekers much like Canada does,” on 6 May John that such provisions would, and were probably intended to, Manley, who was charged by the Prime Minister with co- deter the arrival of genuine refugees even though there has ordinating all matters related to security with the United been no evidence of a security threat from Zimbabweans? States, indicated that a draft agreement was ready and The biggest worry for the refugee support community would be signed in June at Kananaskis by George Bush and has been that the United States and Canada have finally Jean Chrétien in accordance with the thirty-point action agreed to implement the safe third country provision al- planned agreed upon between the two countries at the end ready in Canadian legislation. Since 75 per cent of refugee of 2001, which included joint security clearances for refugee claimants in Canada arrive through the United States, refu- applicants, coordination of visa policies, sharing of infor- gee support groups either totally oppose its implementa- mation on passenger manifests, and pre-clearance of ex- tion or insist on conditions. For example, Amnesty ports headed across the border. At the time of this writing, International, in a press release on 23 May 2002, demands the details of any draft agreement are not available. that individuals denied access to the Canadian system in There were other changes affecting refugees that did not accordance with a safe third country agreement not be involve legislative changes or implementation of existing subjected to the American expedited removal process and legislation. Paul Martin’s 10 December 2001 budget allo- summarily removed for want of a valid or suitable docu- cated $395 million to speed up and enhance refugee and mentation, that internment only be employed if necessary immigration screening. A sum of $500 million was set aside but always in accord with international standards and never for detention33 and speeding up the removal process. applied to children, and that those fleeing gender-based (Much larger amounts – $1.2 billion – went into high tech violence not be denied access. The Canadian Council for devices to speed up the movement of goods and people, Refugees (CCR) is much more vociferously opposed to such as the Primary Automated Lookout System (PALS) for introducing a safe third country provision and is running a land border passenger traffic, designed to take care of 70 campaign against its introduction with the misleading title million of the 80 million Canadians who cross the Cana- of the “None Is Too Many” provision.31 dian/American border by land each year, and the Canadian The Chrétien/Clinton Canada-USA Accord on Our Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA), a new author- Shared Border, of February 1995, included a provision for ity set up to oversee security at Canadian airports.) New implementing a safe third country provision. The Septem- immigrant and refugee claimants would henceforth be re- ber 11 attack gave the absence of any true effort in that area quired to carry a fraud resistant “Maple Leaf” identity card a new impetus. On 12 December 2001, Canada and the U.S. to be paid for by a $50 fee charged to the refugee claimant.34 signed a Joint Statement of Cooperation on Border Security The cards would be encoded with an identifier, such as a and Regional Migration Issues, otherwise known as the fingerprint, and those carrying the card would use it at ports Smart Border Declaration,32 that included a commitment of entry or to check in periodically at designated kiosks to work towards a safe third country agreement that would where they would swipe the card to see if it matched their significantly reduce or bar access to Canada for refugee claim- biometric identifier. The cards would also be used for medi- ants passing through the U.S. The agreement stated that, cal and welfare purposes to prevent fraud and double-dip- ping. The CCR submission to the Standing Committee on We plan to develop the capacity to share such information and Citizenship and Immigration of the House of Commons to begin discussions on a safe third-country exception to the complained about the “excessive and intrusive demands for right to apply for asylum. Such an arrangement would limit the information” from immigrants applying for a permanent access of asylum seekers, under appropriate circumstances, to resident card because the government had no business the system of only one of the two countries. asking these individuals who their employers were or where they went to school for the last five years, presumably based This provision requires that if claimants passed through a on some ostensible security need. The CCR also com- country where they were entitled to make a refugee claim, plained about the lack of a mechanism to apply to the then they would not be allowed to make a claim in the Minister for an exemption and to ensure exemption appli- country of arrival but, instead, would be sent back to that cations are dealt with in a fair manner with respect to the country to make a claim. broad provisions concerning inadmissibility on the
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grounds of security, human rights violations, or participa- previous attempt on the World Trade Towers in 1993 when tion in organized crime. six were killed, the 1995 bombing of the Military Coopera- The fears about the direction of these reports, legislative tion Program building in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the 1998 initiatives, and budgetary allocations were accentuated for bombings of American embassies in Nairobi and Dar es some members of the refugee support community when the Salaam, the 2000 attack on the USS Cole in Yemen – all of Supreme Court handed down its ruling on the these had been part of a growing pattern of global terrorism Manickavasagam Suresh, a forty-five-year-old Tamil citi- fostered by radical Islamist groups aimed at the U.S. The zen of Sri Lanka. Suresh entered Canada on 5 October 1990 September 11 attack was simply the most audacious and and was accepted as a Convention refugee on 11 April 1991. sophisticated with the greatest loss of lives and property. When Suresh applied for landed status in the summer of In the September 11 attacks when American airlines were 1991, the Solicitor General of Canada and the Minister of hijacked and used as explosive missiles to destroy or at- Citizenship and Immigration declared him inadmissible on tempt to destroy American buildings of great symbolic security grounds, on the grounds that Suresh had been a significance in New York and Washington, two targeting fundraiser for the LTTE and was, therefore, a member of the two towers of the World Trade Centre and two targeting an alleged terrorist organization. On 18 January 2000, the the Pentagon and possibly the White House, the four teams Federal Court of Appeal ruled that: of terrorists – nineteen men in all36 – demonstrated that they had been highly prepared and coordinated. For the It is permissible in defined circumstances to deport a suspected success of the attack depended on well structured surveil- terrorist to a country even though, in the words of the Convention lance, clear and unequivocal decisions and planning, and Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treat- an effective logistic support operation. The terrorists had to ment or Punishment, … there are substantial grounds for have knowledge of airport security and know that transcon- believing that refoulement would expose that person to a risk of tinental flights carried a low passenger load on Tuesday torture.”35 mornings but also a high fuel load after takeoff. As we have learned from a number of Hollywood terrorist movies, a In effect, refugees could be sent back to potential torture well-trained attack team capable of using swift initial vio- under certain circumstances. After the attack on the World lence to intimidate, and to take advantage of past habits Trade Towers, the Supreme Court of Canada rendered a during airline hijacking that recommended co-operation ruling that upheld the right of the government to deport rather than resistance, is necessary. It was an operation that Suresh as long as the government observed procedural required close coordination in time. And it depended on proprieties. Amnesty International had all along criticized some of the hijackers taking enough flying lessons over time any policies or court rulings for excluding “serious crimi- to be able at least to steer these large aircraft towards their nals, terrorists, human rights violators, traffickers and se- pre-selected targets. curity risks” if they would face serious human rights All these terrorist attacks have been made up of low violations such as torture. AI, in a press release dated 7 April tech/high tech combinations. They are high tech when they 2002, interpreted the Convention Against Torture to which use explosives that are more compact, more lethal, and Canada was a signatory as absolutely forbidding return to easier to make, including turning civilian planes into mis- a state where the individual “would be in danger of being siles, but low tech when they employ box cutters to hijack subjected to torture." The Supreme Court determined that it the planes. These terrorists seem to have no moral qualms was wholly within the government’s prerogative to determine about killing innocents, including women and children. In whether there was any significant danger as long as proper some cases, women and children are even targeted. The procedures in making that determination were followed. attacks have increasingly become more brutal and indis- In order to assess whether such measures are necessary criminate with larger numbers of casualties following a and appropriate, it is incumbent that the security threat be multiple coordinated attack. What is most important, the understood in order to assess its relationship to the refugee attackers do not require close direction and supervision, process. but have become self-guided missiles capable of keeping their focus on their targets after long separations of time Terrorism and distance from the centre of operation. They are better The September 11 events were not the first terrorist attacks educated and backed by cadres that number in the thou- aimed at U.S. targets by al Qaeda or its predecessors. The sands in a network with a global reach. Muslim extremists 1983 truck bomb in Beirut, the 1988 crash of Pan American committed to messianic terrorism are behind 90 per cent flight 103, the 1989 UTA crash in which 171 were killed, the of these attacks. Intelligence on them is difficult to acquire
Refugees and Border Security Post-September 11
since al Qaeda consists of highly organized teams relatively There is even more evidence that the security threat – isolated into tightly closed cells, but whose operations de- which is real and palpable – has been used as a cover to cut pend on loosely structured networking versus strict hierar- down on the entry of refugee claimants coming to Canada chical command and control. In this messianic terrorism, whether through visa controls or through the proposed the terrorists believe they are opposing conspiracies of pow- implementation of a safe third-country system. If there are erful, hostile forces out to destroy and eliminate what they justifications for this indirect cutback by greater restrictions value, while their cause is all-good, all-powerful, and guar- on access to the system, one of them is not security; the anteed victory. security issue is a rationale rather than a reason. It is one thing to describe and characterize these terrorist attacks on which there is general agreement. It is another to Notes explain them. Commentators generally fall into one of five 1. Part 3, 14 of the regulations registered June 11 (cf. CIC web groups in accounting for this terrorism: (1) those who see site, online:
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international terrorist groups indicating a renewed terrorist Not Keep,” National Post, 3 November 2001). The designation assault on the U.S., though CSIS erroneously received the of liaison officers from CIC, CSIS (SLOs) and the RCMP (LOs) credit. (Cf. Jerry Seper, “FBI Alert Based on Coded Message,” was intended to expedite communication and co-operation. Washington Times, 1 November 2001, and Scott Simmie, Further, the Canadian government in its May 2002 response “Why Spy Agency Had Key Role in Terror Alert?” Toronto to Hands committed itself to fair and equitable treatment, the Star, 1 November 2001.) This sharing of information was development of national standards for pre-screening, and the consistent with the priorities of then Immigration Minister training of officers in cross-cultural understanding. Elinor Caplan, who had said, “We need to be able to develop 12. CIC employs 350 inland enforcement officers (IEOs) to inves- a network where we share information overseas so that we can tigate, remove, and escort deportees. better protect our continent” to stop “those who pose any kind 13. Including humanitarian cases as well as Convention refugee of security threat from coming to Canada or the U.S. to begin status, Canada admits about 58 per cent of refugee claimants with.” (Cf. Allan Thompson of the Ottawa Bureau of the compared to 52 per cent for the U.S. Toronto Star, who also reported on 31 October 2001 that 14. Bertoliny Eugene, an enterprising student at Concordia Uni- Canada and the U.S. were edging towards establishing a com- versity, testified at the trial of Ahmed Ressam (where Ressam mon security perimeter by establishing joint screening proce- was convicted of terrorist activity for trying to bomb Los dures to stop security threats at the source.) Angeles airport) that he had obtained five other passports 8. In the Canadian government May 2002 response to Hands, the “easily” in addition to the one he supplied Ressam, and only claim was made that detention is only used “when absolutely received $300 for each of them. Another supplier testified that necessary, i.e. when persons pose a threat to public safety, are passports were very easy to obtain, but he sold them for $800 considered to be a flight risk, or are undocumented and unco- each. The Algerian co-conspirator with Ahmed Ressam, Samir operative in establishing their identity." (emphasis added, p. Ait Mohammed, using false Canadian passports, allegedly 4) tried to arrange the entry into Canada from Germany of four 9. In Canada, a review of the circumstances of detainees occurs terrorists who had trained with Ahmed Ressam in al Qaeda within forty-eight hours and then again within seven days and camps in Afghanistan. every thirty days thereafter. 15. Canada has a much smaller problem of control than the U.S. 10. The UNHCR Guidelines on Applicable Criteria and Standards for we admit only six hundred thousand per year as students, related to the Detention of Asylum Seekers view detention as tourists, and business people, while the U.S., with its more inherently undesirable and should not be used as a deterrence universal visa requirement, issues over thirty million visas. measure or to punish asylum seekers who have entered a 16. In comparing foreign intelligence with domestic intelligence country illegally. The Guidelines forbid the automatic use of related to control, the only issue that does not overlap is detention, and provide that detention only be resorted to in perhaps nuclear proliferation, and in terms of domestic intel- cases of necessity as an exception, and should be imposed on ligence, even this is a problem when the focus is on non-state reasonable grounds, and, even then, insist that it should not actors. All the other issues set forth as priorities by the federal be unduly prolonged. However, since the “reasonable Cabinet in 1991 have a domestic security counterpart relevant grounds” include opportunities to verify identity, to deter- to domestic intelligence: international terrorism and ethnic mine the elements on which the claim for refugee status is and religious conflict in which the diaspora communities based, cases where asylum seekers have destroyed travel docu- generally are significantly involved. These security priorities ments or used fraudulent documents, or in cases of security are: nuclear proliferation, illegal migration, transnational or- concerns, most cases could easily fall under one of these ganized crime, economic espionage, and trade intelligence. exceptions even if the procedural safeguards are in place, 17. A backgrounder, “Canada’s Asylum System: A Threat to such as providing detention orders and reasons in the lan- American Security?” by James Bissett, makes the claim that the guage the detainee can understand, providing access to legal refugee determination system is a security threat. Since Bissett counsel, providing for a review of any decision, and allow- is a former Canadian ambassador and was the Executive Di- ing the detainee to challenge the reasons before a review rector of Canada’s Immigration Service from 1985 to 1990, his tribunal. charges carry some initial credibility. (Cf. online: 11. SIRC in its 2000–2001 Report (Ottawa, 2001) noted that it
Refugees and Border Security Post-September 11
18. Cf. D.L. Brown, “Attacks Force Canadians to Face Their Own 28. What was once the longest undefended border was becoming Threat,” Washington Post, 23 September 2001; J. Bagole, et al., a security barrier. U.S. Border Patrol official Robert Finley, Wall Street Journal, 24 September 2001. chief agent for a nearly five-hundred-mile stretch of the 19. Cf. Stewart Bell, “A Conduit for Terrorists,” National Post, 13 United States-Canadian border from the Continental Divide September 2001, Diane Francis, “Our Neighbour’s Upset over in Montana to North Dakota, was quoted in an article by Sam Our Loose Refugee System,” Financial Post, 22 September 2001. Howe Verhovek in the 4 October 2001 New York Times as 20. Canada. Hands Across the Border: Working Together at Our saying, “There are all kinds of means to get across the prairie Shared Border and Abroad to Ensure Safety, Security and Effi- illegally. People use bicycles here; they drive in on snowmo- ciency, House of Commons Standing Committee on Citizen- biles. They come over by horseback.” Compare this to the eight ship and Immigration Report (Ottawa, December 2001). The thousand American agents along the U.S.-Mexican border. Cf. Canadian government response was published in May 2002 Sam Howe Verhovek in the 4 October 2001 New York Times, and is available on the internet, online:
Volume 20 Refuge Number 4
provide new and existing permanent residents with clear, 41. Cf. Mary Robinson, the United Nations High Commissioner secure proof of their status. The PR card will automatically be for Human Rights; her views are expressed in the USIP Peace- issued to all permanent residents who are new to Canada as of Watch of October/December 2001 (p. 7); see also Thomas J. June 28, 2002. Permanent residents already in Canada will be Bierstecker, Director of the Watson Institute for International able to apply for the card this fall according to a schedule based Studies and Henry R. Luce Professor of Transnational Organi- on their year of landing. After December 31, 2003, all perma- zations at Brown University, in “Perspectives on 9.11.2001; A nent residents will need the PR card to re-enter Canada after Special Issue,” Briefings, Summer/Fall 2001. Finally, look at traveling abroad.” Janet Abu-Lughod, Professor Emerita of the Department of 35. The Supreme Court did not overturn the second case of Sociology at the New School in New York City, in her SSRC Mansour Ahani because the Supreme Court ruled that the e-essay, “After the WTC Disaster: The Sacred, the Profane, and government had followed proper procedures in considering Social Solidarity.” him a security risk and weighing the risk of torture upon his return. 36. The theory is that twenty men were intended to hijack the Howard Adelman is a Professor of Philosophy at York Uni- planes, but a French-Moroccan flight student, Zacarias Mous- versity in Toronto. He is also a resident faculty member of the souai, was detained by INS on 17 August 2001 because his Centre for Refugee Studies. This paper was first presented at flight instructor at an Eagan, Minnesota, flight school became a conference entitled “Peacekeeping or Gatekeeping: Cana- suspicious because of his persistent efforts in training on flight dian Security Policy after September 11,” hosted by the York maintenance operations on the flight simulator. Centre for Security Studies at York University on February 7 37. Cf. Bruce Cumings, Professor of History at the University of and 8, 2002. Chicago. His views are articulated in an e-essay solicited and distributed by the Social Science Research Council (SSRC) in the United States, entitled “Some Thoughts Subsequent to September 11th. See also James Der Derian, Professor of Inter- national Relations at Brown University and Professor of Po- litical Science at the University of Massachusetts, whose views are represented in an e-essay, also distributed by SSRC, enti- tled “Before, After, and In Between,” as well as in remarks made at a symposium sponsored by the Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown University in the aftermath of September 11 and reprinted in a special issue of Briefings: Perspectives on 9.11.2001 published by the Watson Institute. 38. Cf. Timur Kuran, Professor of Economics and Law, and King Faisal Professor of Islamic Thought and Culture, at the Uni- versity of Southern California, who offers an economic inter- pretation in his SSRC e-essay, “The Religious Undercurrents of Muslim Economic Grievances.” See also Farish A. Noor of the Institute for Strategic and International Studies (ISIS) in Malaysia who articulates a more cultural interpretation of the civil war within Islam in another SSRC e-essay entitled “The Evolution of ‘Jihad’ in Islamist Political Discourse: How a Plastic Concept Became Harder.” 39. Cf. Mahmood Mamdami, Professor of Anthropology at Co- lumbia University, in his SSRC e-essay, “Good Muslim, Bad Muslim: An African Perspective;” and Tariq Modood, Profes- sor of Sociology and Director of the University Centre for the Study of Ethnicity and Citizenship at the University of Bristol, in his SSRC e-essay, “Muslims in the West: A Positive Asset.” 40. Cf. Luis Rubio, General Director of the Centre for Research for Development (CIDAC) in Mexico City, in his SSRC e-es- say, “Terrorism and Freedom: An Outside View;” and David Held, Professor of Political Science at the London School of Economics, in his SSRC e-essay, “Violence and Justice in a Global Age.”